After Appomattox : military occupation and the ends of war / Gregory P. Downs.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Downs, Gregory P., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Reconstruction (U.S. history, 1865-1877).

Military occupation--Social aspects--Southern States--History--19th century.

Military occupation.

Civil-military relations--Southern States--History--19th century.

Civil-military relations.

Freed persons--Southern States--History--19th century.

Freed persons.

Social conflict--Southern States--History--19th century.

Social conflict.

Race relations.

History.

Military occupation--Social aspects.

Southern States--Politics and government--1865-1950.

Southern States.

Politics and government.

United States--Politics and government--1865-1877.

United States.

United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Occupied territories.

United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Peace.

Peace.

Southern States--Race relations--History--1865-1950.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (353 pages): illustrations, maps

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Massachusetts : Harvard University Press, 2015.

System Details:

text file

Summary:

"The Civil War did not end at Appomattox Court House. Nor did it end at the surrenders that followed in North Carolina, Texas, and Indian Country. The Civil War dragged on for at least five years after Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant in April 1865. In the first large-scale examination of the post-Civil War occupation, this book offers a rethinking of Reconstruction, the end of the Civil War, and the United States' history of occupation. The Civil War could not end, because slavery had not yet ended. Freedpeople held in bondage throughout the South taught soldiers that it would take military force to crush the institution of slavery. To create reliable rights on the ground and to stave off planters' efforts to restore their power, the United States launched an expansive, aggressive, little-understood occupation of the rebel states, granting the Army power to overturn laws, appoint new officials, conduct military trials, and ignore writs of habeas corpus. Yet relying on occupation posed dilemmas for the United States. Isolated in small outposts, the Army could regulate only what it could see. In large no-man's lands, a series of insurgencies and partisan conflicts arose; much of the South fell into near-anarchy. Maintaining an occupation created political problems as well, as northern voters urged Congress to cut spending and send troops home. This book describes a Civil War that could not quite end, a peace that could not quite be achieved, and a resolution that continues to shape American life"--Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction: The war that could not end

After surrender

Emancipation at gunpoint

The challenge of civil government

Authority without arms

The war in Washington

A false peace

Enfranchisement by martial law

Between bullets and ballots

The perils of peace

Conclusion: A government without force

Appendixes.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

Local Notes:

Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest, 2015. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest affiliated libraries.

Other Format:

Print version: Downs, Gregory P. After Appomattox : military occupation and the ends of war.

ISBN:

9780674426146

OCLC:

908146066

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.